Spoilers

Look at what’s happened to me….

That is right. I found this series available on Amazon Prime and so I have added it to the watch list, along with The X-Files, Bates Motel and Battlestar Galactica. The Greatest American Hero was one of my favorite shows on ABC back in the early 80s. Starring William Katt, Robert Culp and Connie Sellecca, the series featured a high school teacher that was given a super suit by aliens. Unfortunately, the teacher, Ralph Hinkley, lost the instruction manual so he had trouble figuring out how the suit worked.

Meanwhile, FBI agent Bill Maxwell was with Ralph when the aliens arrived and becomes involved in the scenarios. Ralph’s lawyer and girlfriend Pam Davidson gets involved with the chaos as well, at first believing that Ralph had lost his mind.

This first episode is the full length pilot episode, running around 90 minutes long.

The Greatest American Hero was a ton of silly fun, playing with the tropes of the super hero genre. Ralph is unable to access the full power of the suit and what he can do, he does not do smoothly. [“DAMN”].

There requires plenty of suspension of disbelief here. Why doesn’t Ralph put on some kind of mask as he is flying around the city with his own face exposed. He also randomly tells people his name and job as he is dressed in his suit. Sure that defies logic, but so does a super suit from space aliens and a flying teacher who can crash through a wall. If you are derailed by some faults in logic, you have chosen the wrong show to watch.

Of course, one of the things this show had going for it was perhaps the best TV theme song ever recorded. “The Greatest American Hero [Believe it or Not]” by Joey Scarbury is undeniably catchy, easy to sing along with and sets the perfect tone for the show. To this day, that song is on my phone and is one that I always stop to listen to when it comes around.

William Katt and Robert Culp are also huge pieces of this show’s unlikely success. Both actors are solid performers and have had plenty of luck in the past. Culp was a star of the show “I Spy” with Bill Cosby. Katt appeared in the Stephen King film, Carrie, as well as several other films. The pairing of Katt and Culp were one of the key elements to this series’ cult stasis.

There are 45 episodes spread over three seasons of The Greatest American Hero. We will continue to add to this watch as the months go on.